Jackson City Council Approves Study on New Sports Fields
This video is no longer available.
JACKSON, TN.- City Council members listened for more than an hour as the benefits of tennis courts in North Jackson and reconfigure the soccer fields at North Park were laid out. Pope Mulherin President of Jackson Area Wide Soccer said, “Here in Jackson today we have less soccer fields than we did back in 1999 when North Park was built,” Mulherin said. “More than twice as many people are playing soccer now.” Tennis supporters would like the city to purchase land for $10,000 an acre at what was the Highland Green Golf Course on North Highland. The presentation included a video display that showed most people in Jackson play tennis north of Interstate 40. Councilman Scott Conger wanted to know what would happen to the tennis courts in the park named after his grandfather. “I think Conger Park is viable to midtown in the city of Jackson,” Conger said. “It is the only park we have in midtown so residents really need a park to go to especially in walking distance.” The vote was taken and unanimously $10,000 was approved for an architectural and engineering firm to start doing testing on the soil and layout for the tennis courts and soccer fields. The council was told that underprivileged children will have a chance to play tennis, provided shoes, shirts and a racket. Money provided through private funding. Jerry Hellums President of Better Tennis for Jackson said, “It was one hundred percent approved. The people asked a lot of questions. I think all of them were answered. We has a one hundred percent vote going forward.” Next month the City Council will vote on the site approval and whether to purchase the land in North Jackson. If approved next month, the soccer fields at north park would jump from five to eight fields. While the council did not vote to buy the land at the former Highland Green Golf Course, they did set aside $210,000 that could be used to purchase the property if the engineering study shows that the tennis courts are feasible. That same engineering study will also cover the feasibility of additional soccer facilities.
